Small improvements being made in Moore as crews work on recovery

Fallin: Main task is removing debris, restoring power

Local and state leaders gathered at City Hall in Moore, Okla., on Thursday to provide an update on the recovery efforts after several communities were devastated by a tornado that struck the area on Monday.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin announced that a public memorial service will be held on Sunday for everyone impacted by the tornado.

The memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Moore, 301 N.E. 27th St. Those who wish to attend were asked to park at the Crossroads Mall and a shuttle will take them to the church.

The storm killed 24 people, including children, on May 20. The medical examiner said one person was yet to be identified. Two people were killed in Sunday’s tornado.

Early estimates indicate the Monday tornado caused more than $2 billion in damage in Moore. Whole subdivisions in the fast-growing community of 56,000 people were destroyed.

The first funeral for the students killed in Monday’s tornado was held Thursday, retiring Moore Public School Superintendent Susan Pierce said. Schools were closed for the rest of the academic year, but Pierce was adamant about reopening.

“We will rebuild. We will reopen. We will have school in August,” she said.

Graduation ceremonies will be held Saturday and leaders said they are working on putting a plan in place to transport families to witness the event if they are unable to get there by themselves.

While Moore still appears destroyed and families are working to put their lives back in order, the city has reached its recovery and debris-removal stage, Fallin said.

The main task now, Fallin said, will be opening streets, getting power restored to the area and removing the debris. Oklahoma Natural Gas said that 2,550 customers were without gas and asked for patience in getting it restored.

In a relatively short amount of time, the city has improved from 68 roadblocks and checkpoints used for security purposes to 12. One square mile is still blocked off on the west side of Moore, which is the hardest-hit area of the city, Fallin said. Moore police said a curfew is in effect in damaged neighborhood and residents will need to be “out by dark.”

The governor noted that the Department of Public Safety is working with everyone in the community to get official papers in order, such as identification cards and the Cleveland County Health Department is working on getting everyone birth or death certificates.

About 2,200 Oklahoma residents had been helped through FEMA as of Thursday, Fallin said.

The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management reopened its emergency operations center Thursday after strong storms again moved through central Oklahoma.

The department had previously announced that the command center would be shut down Wednesday at midnight. Storms with heavy rain and hail began falling in the area early Thursday morning and prompted flash flood warnings in central Oklahoma.

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